Sitting here at the computer at the beginning of December and looking out over the garden I can see just a scene of utter desolation with plants decimated, trees and shrubs with broken or twisted branches, puddles forming in the aviaries and even on the lawns as the rain driven by tremendous winds is lashing almost horizontally across the garden. The corrugated perspex sheeting covering the aviaries is vibrating at a rate of knots and looks in serious danger of disintegrating or being torn away. Fortunately there is wire mesh beneath it 'just in case'. The birds have had to be contained within the loft itself.
The reason for these traumas is the North Easterly force eight and nines that are ripping across this part of the country at the moment. The Dartford bridge crossing has been closed, a couple of unfortunates were swept from the proms and out to sea and were lost and, most unusually, some of the ferry crossings were cancelled as the Port of Dover closed the berths. Normally we would pretty much take this weather in our stride but in just a couple of days from now I, and many others are taking to these same seas to attend the German shows. At best it looks like a rough crossing can be expected, at worst delayed or postponed ferries. The longer range forecast does not appear to offer us any immediate relief.
Early news filtering through from Pickering appears to be mainly positive with a good sized crowd of fanciers reported and surprisingly even a well-supported NPA AGM. I am sure that in the coming weeks we will getting full reports from many of the judges as well as from many other interested observers. One ominous comment reported in the December issue was the almost complete absence of non fancier visitors at the show.
The reverse is of course the story at Blackpool where many thousands will be expected to flock past our fancy pigeon exhibits. Somehow, between us, we have to strive really hard to raise the bar at both of these events to ensure top quality 'shop window' status. There is absolutely no points to be gained nor any future for the Fancy if both Pickering and Blackpool are not supported by the fanciers. These two events, together with the National Young Bird show, could be our biggest hopes for the future.
